The port of Les Mantelots belongs to the “commune” of Châtillon-sur-Loire. It has a magnificent lock that allows boats to continue along the river to Briare. “Now leisure boating is the main activity on this canal”, explains the young lock keeper, who energetically opens the gates to let in the wild Loire and a boatload of tourists who have come to explore the riches of the river and discover its boating traditions. It is easy to see how, over the centuries, all these stone and metal constructions, all these bridges and all these manmade waterways have played a role in the area’s economic development. For example, a few kilometres downstream, the Briare canal bridge, built by Gustave Eiffel between 1890 and 1897, allowed the waters of the Loire to flow into the Seine and thus supply water to Paris. The young lock keeper at Les Mantelots has soon finished his task. Every summer’s day he opens the gates of this beautiful lock in exactly the same way as his forebears did several centuries ago. When finished, he stores his tools in a large building, the lock house, which still houses old machines left over from the days of commercial navigation on the canal.  The port and the boating museum at Châteauneuf-sur-Loire are also worth a visit if you would like to learn more about river navigation.